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| | Saturday, November 11 Rudd brings Phoenix car to Miami | |||||
| Associated Press HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Ricky Rudd's crew worked overtime this week to repair the same Ford Rudd drove last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Rudd, who will start second in this Sunday's NASCAR Penzoil 400, was leading the Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 with 17 laps remaining when he was involved in a crash that also included Mike Bliss and Rick Mast. Crew chief Michael McSwain determined the car did not suffer permanent damage, so the crew decided to rebuild it and bring it back to the flat, 1½-mile Homestead Miami Speedway. "This is the car we finished third with at New Hampshire in September," McSwain said. "We were obviously strong at Phoenix and we really like the car a lot. It's a good car and we wanted to use it at Homestead this weekend. "Basically, the biggest amount of damage was the body so we knew we needed to completely replace that." Rudd was on the pole Friday until Steve Park, the very last driver who attempted to make a qualification attempt, knocked him off. "I feel for the guys that worked in the shop so hard," Rudd said. "Second is nothing to sneeze about, but we were all joking about it a while ago, we want to see a recount. We didn't get it that fast on our watches and I'm not sure if something fell in front of that light beacon at the last minute, but we didn't catch it that quick. "Again, it's more of a disappointment for the guys because I guarantee there isn't a team out here that worked any harder to get to this race track than ours did, but finishing second is nothing to sneeze about." Rookie qualifies fifth Casey Atwood, a 20-year-old driver who will make a run at the NASCAR Winston Cup rookie of the year award next year, qualified fifth for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 with a lap at 155.718 mph in a Ford. Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon's former crew chief who is spearheading Dodge's return to the sport next year, owns the car. "I knew we were going to be a little bit better with this cloud cover, but I'm real happy with that," Atwood said. "I'm really excited for everybody. This is only our third race together -- a rookie driver -- and it's a new team, but Ray has worked hard for us and so has everybody on the team. It's gonna be a good start for us, probably our best start yet, so we'll see what we can do Sunday." Bodine gets ride Geoffrey Bodine, fired from Joe Bessey Motorsports two months ago, will drive for Andy Petree Racing in the Winston Cup season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bodine will take the wheel of the No. 35 car and try to qualify for the NAPA 500 on Nov. 19. Andy Petree Racing already fields two cars, but the team decided to field a third for the race to try to attract a Busch series sponsor for next season, team general manager Steve Barkdoll said Tuesday. Bodine, the 1986 Daytona 500 champion, was fired in September from Joe Bessey Motorsports after some poor finishes this year. He was injured in a fiery wreck during a truck race at Daytona International Speedway in February. Bodine also will try to qualify for Sunday's race at Homestead, Fla., in a second car owned by brother Brett. Dodge engine approved NASCAR approved Dodge Motorsports' engine for its Intrepid R/T cars, the last major step in the company's return to the Winston Cup circuit after a 15-year absence. "With our engine and body approved, the teams can focus on building and testing their cars for next season," said car owner Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon's former crew chief who's now the point man in Dodge's return to NASCAR's top series. "We still have a lot of work to do." Dodge presented parts of the 358-cubic inch V-8 engine to NASCAR for approval on Sept. 27. The teams that will race the new Winston Cup Dodge Intrepid in 2001 are working harder than ever these days. Chip Ganassi driver Sterling Marlin and Stacy Compton of Melling Racing tested the Intrepids recently in Daytona Beach, Fla., to prepare for the Feb. 18 Daytona 500. Both cars were fitted with carburetor restrictor plates and the aerodynamic package that was used last month in the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. "We tested at Talladega a few weeks ago and really didn't run the way we needed to," Marlin said. "We probably need another half a second in order to qualify in the top 10 at Daytona. I think we can still find some speed in the car by cutting and hacking and changing this and changing that." Jordan names CEO John Putt was appointed chief operating officer of Jordan Grand Prix, the Formula One team that will begin a new partnership with Honda in 2001. Putt, a team adviser from 1996-98, will oversee day-to-day management of the company, owner Eddie Jordan said. The appointment will allow Jordan to expand his role on the commercial side while joint managing director Trevor Foster heads racing operations. Celebration nears If Bobby Labonte goes on to wrap up his first Winston Cup championship, it might mean more to Joe Gibbs Racing crewman Peter Jellen than to the driver. Jellen, the team's truck driver and Labonte's gas man, drove the team transporter for Alan Kulwicki when his team won the title in 1992. Kulwicki died the next April in a plane crash. "We never really got to enjoy that title," Jellen said. "That team was just clawing to survive every week, and when we lost Alan, we lost our friend, our driver and a lot of other things. It really felt like we got cheated -- like we never got to defend what Alan and the rest of us had built." Labonte goes into Sunday's Pennzoil 400 in Homestead, Fla., leading runner-up Dale Earnhardt by a daunting 218 points with two races remaining. So, while Jellen's dream could become reality by Sunday evening, he's not taking anything for granted. "A lot of guys don't get a chance to be on one championship team, but to get a chance to be on two is something really special," said Jellen, who has only worked for two teams in his 11-year NASCAR career. "I'm going to enjoy this one if it happens, but I'm sure the pressure will be there until the season is over. If anyone out here knows how quickly things can turn, it's me. "I keep hearing that we have it in the bag and all we have to do is this and that," Jellen added. "But anything can happen." | ||||||